Over seven thousand teachers in public primary and junior secondary schools in Kogi State have appealed to Governor Yahaya Bello to look into the issue of non-payment of their salary for the past eight to thirty-nine months. The Kogi teachers made the appeal in a communiqué
issued at the end an emergency meeting of the Basic Education Staff Association of Nigeria
(BASAN) held in Lokoja on Monday.
The group traced the teachers’ plight to the staff screening exercise the government
embarked upon since 2016, lamenting that the affected teachers have turned beggars in order
to feed themselves and family members.
The communique, jointly signed by Mr Onotu Yahaya and Mr Mohammed Sule, Acting
Chairman and Secretary of the Kogi State chapter of BESAN, also bemoaned the refusal of the
state government to fully implement the eighteen thousand naira minimum wage to teachers
in the basic education sector.
Onotu and Sule stated that their counterparts in the senior secondary school cadre and other
state government staff have been enjoying the minimum wage since December, 2011,
wondering why teaching and non-teaching staff at the basic education sector are not being
fully paid.
The communique urged the government to put a stop to the payment of 35 to 50 per cent
salary to its members, insisting that they deserved full payment of salary like other workers in
the state. It also raised concern over the poor state of basic education infrastructure in school across the state, warning that the development is an impediment in meeting the desired productive curriculum delivery.
Join our twitter community :